Life, 1923-10-18 · page 32 of 44
Life — October 18, 1923 — page 32: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising and lifestyle commentary** rather than political satire. The main content includes: **The General Cord Tire Advertisement** (center): A straightforward car ad emphasizing comfort and mileage, featuring an illustration of a 1920s automobile. **"The Importantly Unimportant" Essay** (left): A humorous piece satirizing working-class professionals—elevator starters, bus conductors—who speak with exaggerated authority using single words like "Right!" or commands like "Low bridge—don't stand up!" The satire mocks how these workers imbue mundane jobs with mock-grandiose dignity, comparing their pronouncements to biblical or Shakespearean declarations. **Surrounding Advertisements**: Bell-Ans antacid, Old English Silver hallmark booklet, and Wasco Garage Heater. **Caption Joke**: "What women are fitted for nowadays: Knickers"—a dated reference to women's practical sportswear becoming acceptable fashion. The page reflects 1920s attitudes toward working-class workers and emerging women's fashion rather than addressing major political events.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
6 BELLANS Hot water Sure Relief | FOR INDIGESTION 25¢ AND 75¢ PACKAGES EVERYWHERE the way he says it. The minute you hear him sj Right” you can stake your insurance that God’s in His heaven, etc. The starter’s entire life is bound up in that one word. With a wealth of dignity and a breadth of expression, it discloses his complete cosmos. \\ HEN you think of riding Then I have another friend. He is a bus conductor. When he says, “Low comfort as well as mileage bridge—don't stand up,” he is as you will know the reason Moses, hurling torth an eleventh C id - Majestic! Colossal! why the General Cord has been “—<- so successful. They are a brave and gallant crew, these purveyors of the importantly unimportant, whose __ contributions range from the aloof “Customer— Miss Blatz!” of the superbly detached THE aisle-man to the esoteric and terrible “Hrrmpf!” of the oldest living mem- aves a long shay H. W. H. CORD TIRE Wuat women are fitted for nowa- days: Knickers. BUILT IN AKRON OHIO BY THE GENERAL TIRE & RUABER co. | THE WASCO GARAGE HEATER = = 7 - ————— ——} REGULATES ITSELF ALL WINTER The ‘basmati Chinwene Can Deve ta ana Gut of Warm Garage All Winter I HAve always heard that true art consists in economy—of line, of gesture or of words. A painter or an actor or a writer who can get down Db English f to essentials and stay there is the " y real boy or girl. Silber If this is so, I have discovered BOOKLET OF stop me if I haven't—a new art, that wart HALLMARKS of saying practically nothing with the oA eg most terrific importance. Don't get me wrong. I do not mean the crude puttering of retired army officers, statesmen, fathers, oil sales: men or the characters of a prize play They say little enough, but oh, Lord! \. A. Scuterr Mra. Co., IN my artists are concise, brief—almost ketchy, But the implied weight of their words would bring the A deck of the Leviathan to within ten inche of the cold, angry sea READY TO SET UP Take, for instance, my friend the elevator starter. All T have ever ard him: say Right!" implyir Make Your Reservations Early! that the elevator has t hi The Great I Number of Lave permission to elevate. But comin Whist rp what he says, if you follow me